


classroom by-laws

by faerietell



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship, but rEVERSED, no beta we die like men, professor sakura, student adult kakashi, the author doesn't know anything about bioethics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29098950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerietell/pseuds/faerietell
Summary: Professor Sakura Haruno had it all together. Until her newest student — a lazy, gray-hair, perpetually tardy man in his forties — showed up in her Intro to Bioethics class.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hatake Kakashi
Comments: 13
Kudos: 70





	classroom by-laws

Professor Sakura Haruno did everything right.

She was strict in the classroom, expecting her student’s full attention and never accepting texting during her lectures. But she was still considerate of their differing learning needs and was always open to working with them. Sakura was passionate about both her research and her teachings, seeking to be as great as her own mentor, Tsunade. She attended happy hour with her colleagues and volunteered once a month. 

She didn’t break rules. She didn’t _sleep with students_. 

So her breath caught in her throat when she caught sight of a head of messy gray hair resting on a familiar defined forearm. He must have been tired. She was tired too because last night she was dragging her fingers through those gray strands, stifling a moan when his mouth (and teeth) met her throat. He had been gone when she woke up that morning, likely to make his nine a.m. class. The class she taught. 

How _old_ was he? 

No, she was being ridiculous. Sakura could remember how tired his eyes looked. She couldn’t think about this now. 

“Alright, class!” She clapped her hands together once she set up her laptop. “Sorry for running a little late this morning. Welcome to Bioethics 121.”

Sakura didn’t mean to look at him, but she couldn’t help it. As she spoke, he lazily lifted his head from his arms, dark gaze meeting hers. Widening slightly in realization. A thrill ran down her spine, and she forced herself to look away. 

She could hardly focus on her lecture, but she had given it so many times that she spoke through it effortlessly. How could she be so _stupid?_

Sakura nearly sighed in relief when it hit half past nine anyway. “Please read the first two chapters of our textbook and come to class prepared to discuss. Hatake-san, can you stay after for a minute? I’d like to clarify something about your attendance.”

As the rest of the students hurried to get back to their beds on a Monday morning, Kakashi slowly made his way down to her desk. He only spoke when the door shut behind the last student. 

“Haruno-sensei,” he said after a moment of hesitation. As if he didn’t know what form of address to use.

( _Sakura,_ he gasped, her head between his legs.)

Sakura tried to collect her thoughts. “I’m incredibly sorry for this inconvenience. I can’t describe how unprofessional as an educator last night was, and I promise I’m committed to your education here at Konoha. I’ll speak to the dean about the situation, and we can have you moved — “

“Mah, Professor,” Kakashi interrupted her. “That’s very… kind of you. But I like my schedule.”

She hesitated. This wasn’t the response she expected at all. “Well, I’m happy to do whatever is most comfortable for you. But the correct procedure is usually to report incidents like this to the dean.” 

Sakura wasn’t just trying to cover her ass. She _meant_ it when she said she wanted the best possible education for him. While she might not know his circumstances or why he was taking an introductory bioethics class when he was over forty, she had always been committed to the learning experience of her students.

“Can I be frank with you?” 

“Alright,” she arched an eyebrow. “Go on.”

“I understand that we’re in a complicated situation,” Kakashi began after a moment, a little uncomfortable. “But we were both consenting adults. As long as this doesn’t happen again, it should be fine.” 

She bit her lips, feeling as if she should protest. “Are you sure?” 

He did that little eye-smile again. “I’m sure.” 

After he left, Sakura slumped back into her chair. She couldn’t help but feel bothered about everything that happened. Was she really making the right call here? Sakura didn’t _feel_ like she was in any position of power over him, but she still was. 

And the worst part? No matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn’t recall his fucking face. 

  
  
+  
  


Kakashi wasn’t a model student, but he wasn’t a troublemaker either. He slept through half her classes and always slid in the door in the last-minute. He never attracted attention or flirted with her, and it was as if that night had never happened. Sakura was always of the belief that students could make their own decision on whether they wanted to focus on her lectures, so she rarely called them out. 

But _everyone else_ was paying attention, and her lecture was on the midterm. So far Kakashi was floating through class, but he wasn’t going to pass her exam at this rate. She wrestled with the dilemma for a half hour before making up her mind. 

“Alright, class, take ten minutes to solve the problems on the slide,” Sakura instructed.

She walked around the lecture hall, pausing to answer questions or offer suggestions. When she reached Kakashi, she rapped his desk twice. He startled awake, staring at her with bleary, confused eyes. 

“Hatake-san,” she met his gaze. “This information is on the midterm. I would advise you pay attention.” 

He sleepily glanced back at the presentation in the front of the classroom like he hadn’t known it was there until that very moment. “My bad, Sakura. I’ll stay awake.”

She stared at him, frozen.

His eyes widened slightly in realization. “Haruno-sensei. I — ”

She only shook her head, silencing anything he was going to say. It had only been a mistake, and she didn’t want to draw more attention to them. She continued making her way around the classroom until the ten minutes were over. 

The next time she looked at him, he was asleep. Again. Sakura gritted her teeth. It was pretty difficult not to take him falling asleep in _her_ class personally. But fine, if he wanted to fail, that was his prerogative. 

  
  
+  
  


It was Tsunade who brought up Kakashi. 

It was a Friday night at the _Gentle Lion Fist_ , and Sakura, against her will, was having drinks with her mentor. She hated having drinks with Tsunade. Everyone hated having drinks with Tsunade. She always drank Sakura under the table, and Sakura got a pounding headache the next morning in thanks for it. 

“All I do is paperwork,” Tsunade complained. “Every since that piece of shit Jiraiya — gods rest his soul — conned me into this job… “

Sakura grimaced as the blonde woman took a long swig of her sake and slammed it back onto the bar. “More!”

Neji, the handsome bartender with dark long hair, exchanged exasperated looks with Sakura but got her another glass. Tsunade had saved everyone’s life in this town, and it was difficult to say no to her. Sakura wondered if she would ever have her mentor’s presence, her strength, her grace. Definitely not her grace. 

It felt like it had been a long time since she practiced. 

“Shishou?” Sakura asked, hesitant. 

“Speak up, girl.” 

She would always be a girl to Tsunade. “I’ve been thinking about… getting back. To Konoha General.” 

Sakura took a quick swig of liquid courage herself. 

Tsunade looked at her sharply. “Do you think you’re ready?” 

It had been five long years since she had even held a scalpel. After… the incident, Sakura had switched her career to teaching, and Tsunade had let her. She had to run away for a while, but she was ready to come back. Even though her hands shook at the thought of it. 

“I have to be sometimes,” she swallowed. 

Uncharacteristically, Tsunade didn’t let on what she was thinking. “What about your students?”

“Oh!” She shook her head. “I won’t abandon them. I’ll complete this semester and maybe the next. I just… wanted to mention it to you. I’m not sure yet.” 

Tsunade grunted. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Kakashi, that brat. You’re teaching him this semester, aren’t you?”

Panic clutched her lungs, and it took her a few beats to answer. “Hatake Kakashi?” 

It was impossible for Tsunade to know. They had met in a bar just outside of Konoha, and it was a secret between them, the cab driver, and Sakura’s cat. But her mentor always had a way of knowing absolutely everything. 

“Yeah, that’s right,” Tsunade said. “I knew his father.” 

Sakura tried not to look as relieved as she felt. “Small world.”

“Old people all know everyone,” Tsunade dismissed with a smirk. “And how is he? As a student?”

Sakura took another sip of her sake, trying to buy herself some time to put together a coherent answer. “He’s… lazy, but he’s not a problem. He has no interest in the class and doesn’t participate. He does all the work but at the bare minimum. Honestly, from his short answer responses, I wonder if he has an issue with ethics? But I weigh tests the most in my class, and considering he failed the midterm, I’m not sure he’ll pass.” 

Tsunade sighed. “That troublesome brat. His father’s son indeed.”

Did this violate the agreement she made with Kakashi? They had agreed to let it go, but she felt like she was dangerously close to infringing his privacy. Still, she was _curious_ , and she never had good self-control. She couldn’t bring herself to change the subject. 

“What part?”

Tsunade hummed. “All of it. Kakashi, like his father, has his own strict code of ethics. He isn’t interested in dilemmas because he’s lived them. Of course, Sakumo was never lazy, but Kakashi isn’t either.” 

Not lazy? Sakura didn’t know how else to describe him. Every bone was lazy. He slept in class. He slumped. He moved slowly. He blinked sleepily. He drew out his words. Kakashi had no interest in the passing of time. But perhaps he was… heavy? Heavy with the weight of some burden Sakura had noticed the first time she met him. 

“No wonder he doesn’t enjoy my class,” she muttered.

Tsunade barked out a laugh but quickly grew more serious. “I don’t want him failing, Sakura.” 

She glanced at her mentor warily. “I don’t make exceptions.”

“I would never ask you to,” Tsunade snorted. “But talk to him. Try to make him see sense. His story is… complicated, but it’s important he passes his classes.”

It was hard to say no to Tsunade when she had saved just about everyone in Konoha’s life. She had saved Sakura’s life too, just not in the traditional meaning of the word. Tsunade had seen a girl who was foolish and naive and in love with a boy who would never see her worth, and she had given her a _chance_ . And Sakura hadn’t been so stupid that she hadn’t taken that chance and _ran_ with it. 

So she could hardly say no. 

  
+  
  
  


Sakura had always loved her office. Sunlight spilled through the small window, and it was kept impeccably neat, medical texts stacked on her bookshelves and two pot plants sitting side by side on the window sill.

Kakashi looked strange, too tall for the chair and barely cramming his legs beneath the desk. Sometimes she felt like he wasn’t there at all. Other times, she felt like he should have his name on the plaque, and she should be the student. He simply had that presence, and she was deeply curious. _Who are you, Hatake Kakashi?_

“You, uh, wanted to see me?” 

“Yes, thank you for meeting me, Hatake-san,” she folded her arms on the desk. “I’m concerned about your performance in my class. Unless you pass the final, you won’t be able to pass. In fact, you would probably need at least a B.” 

Kakashi scratched his hair, unsure. “I… didn’t realize it was that bad.” 

She leaned forward. “Well, I’m concerned about how I can help. I’ve noticed you’ve been having issues… focusing in class. You didn’t even complete the midterm.”

“Mah, it’s not that you’re not an engaging teacher, Haruno-sensei,” he smiled at her, all charm. “It’s only my personal life.” 

“And your personal life is also resulting in you being late?” Sakura didn’t mean to needle him, but she was growing increasingly frustrated. Kakashi had people who _cared_ if he failed, even if he didn’t know about it, but he couldn’t give a shit. “You were ten minutes late to this meeting.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Ah, you see, I was helping an old lady cross the road.” 

Sakura would have almost believed him if tardiness wasn’t a streak all semester. And if he hadn’t told her that night so long ago that he ended up at the bar too late to meet his blind date because he had to rescue a couple of kittens. 

“I _want_ to help you,” Sakura snapped. “But you’re making it very difficult.” 

Kakashi looked taken aback, and Sakura immediately regretted it. 

“Sorry,” she mumbled, cheeks burning. “I… That wasn’t very professional of me.”

“I don’t like that,” he said suddenly. 

Sakura tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Like what?” 

“You’ve said this before,” Kakashi explained. “You found us sleeping together unprofessional. You find snapping your temper unprofessional. ‘Professional’ feels like a way of hiding what you really want to say.”

Sakura arched an eyebrow. “Psychoanalyzing me?” 

“Mah, no,” he laughed quietly. “It’s a… pet peeve of mine.”

She slowly considered what he had said. “You’re right. I was hiding. Considering we didn’t know each other before we — well, it wasn’t unprofessional. But in the aftermath, it felt unethical. And snapping at you was a little unprofessional. I’m your professor, and I shouldn’t lose my temper like that. But it also wasn’t very considerate.”

“I see.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I wish I saw that passion in your short responses.”

“Tell me,” Sakura bit her lips. “What are your interests? Academically or career-wise.”

“Seems a little like you’re asking me why I’m here.”

Well, she was certainly tempted to ask. “I’m asking you where you’re going.”

He shrugged. “Education. I’d like to be a teacher.” 

Sakura could see it. He easily had the same commanding presence that she had to fight for. Her patients didn’t take her seriously. Her students didn’t always take her seriously either. She always had to earn their respect, but Kakashi was the kind of person who was born with it. She had envied that the first night she saw him

“I think you’d be good at that.”

Kakashi looked down at his hands. “I struggle to… find interest in these readings. I took this class because it was a requirement.”

“Okay,” she accepted. It wasn’t as if she could change that. “And staying awake in class?”

“I struggle to sleep at night.” 

Sakura didn’t know how to respond to that, and she couldn’t kick her very stupid, very unprofessional urge to want to know _more_. 

“Then why don’t we meet here once a week?” Sakura suggested, having finally landed on a way she could help him. “At a time you can stay awake and feel like you can get here on time. We’ll go over the lectures, and you can ask me any questions.”

Kakashi threw her a strange look. “You’re going through a lot of trouble.”

She smiled at him. “I’ve done this for other students. Usually no one has trouble with my basic classes, but I’m not making exceptions here. I always want my students to do well.”

Sakura wasn’t lying. Eventually, she would have pulled him aside for a talk anyway. Tsunade had only given her a little push. 

“Thank you then.”

He made to leave, but she blurted out a question. “I can’t remember. What you look like beneath the mask. I know I saw your face but — ”

Kakashi glanced back at her curiously and then laughed. “I’m sorry. I only show my face in those specific circumstances. You’ll have to ask again after the semester.” 

Sakura rose to her feet to yell at him, but she thought better of it. No, that was deserved, and it might cross into the line of flirting, but it wasn’t really. 

So she only laughed. “Alright then. I will.” 

  
+  
  
  


Kakashi was _whip-smart._ It quickly dawned on Sakura that he should be getting his PhD, not his bachelors. He picked everything up in seconds of her teaching them, and he could connect them to the readings and ask questions that _challenged_ her.

And slowly, she satisfied her curiosity. She got to know him. 

“I’m a military brat,” Kakashi told her after she mentioned her own upbringing. “Guess I couldn’t imagine anything else to do with my life.”

“But you’re not anymore?” 

“No,” he gave her another one of those eye-smiles that was starting to make her heart flop. “I… should have quit a long time ago.”

Another time, Tsunade came up. She didn’t mean it to, but her laptop screensavers was a series of photos with her friends and family. Kakashi saw one of her photos with Tsunade smiling proudly at her when she graduated medical school. 

“You know Tsunade?”

She glanced up, startled. She had been playing on her phone while he completed the problem set. “She’s been my professor. And my boss.” 

“You look close,” he observed.

Sakura’s gaze softened as she looked at the photo before it flickered to one of her and Ino. “She gave me a chance when she shouldn’t have.” 

Kakashi examined her. “I’m not that much older than you, so forgive me if I’m overstepping here. But I feel like… I’ve lived a long life. Perhaps longer than I should have. And it’s very rare when someone doesn’t deserve a chance.” 

She wanted to ask him why it was that his years had aged him far more than her own did. She wanted to pick apart his words and write them on her skin. But she only accepted his hard-earned wisdom with a half-smile. 

Kakashi got to know her too though. She had a habit of referencing past cases she had worked on as examples, and one day, he outright asked her. 

“Why did you choose to go into academia?” Kakashi asked her as they wrapped up a session. “You’re very passionate about your work as a doctor.”

“I… screwed up,” Sakura confessed. “I fell to pieces. The patient — it was someone I knew.” 

She didn’t finish the rest of the story or the guilt that might as well have been her skin. _I killed him. I killed him. I killed him_. 

But Kakashi knew, or somehow he understood, because he briefly touched her shoulder and said, “I know. Me too.” 

Sakura nearly wept. 

  
+  
  
  


And she knew she was slowly falling, and as a fucking Bioethics professor, she knew how much she shouldn’t. She liked how he was as careful as her to maintain boundaries. She liked his heavy-lidded gaze and how carefully he listened to every word of her lecture. She liked his attention. She liked the way he scarfed down snacks from the vending machine when she wasn’t looking or made up stupid excuses about being late to her class. She liked his chicken-scratch handwriting. 

Sakura dealt with her newest infatuation maturely and responsibly.

She got wasted. 

Ino found her in their shared apartment hugging a bottle of sake. 

“So what you’re trying to say… “ Ino concluded after Sakura babbled for about what felt like half an hour. “Is that you want to fuck your student?”

“Shut up!” Sakura wailed into her pillow. “I hate meee tooooo!”

“Don’t you think you’re blowing this up?” Ino cackled with amusement. “He’s older than you. It’s not like this is some business fraternity kid.” 

“Don’t justify it to me,” Sakura took another long gulp, relishing the burn of alcohol in her throat. “I’m already trying to justify it to myself when I shouldn’t.” 

Ino tugged Sakura halfway into her lap, hugging her tightly while they were both still sprawled on to the floor. “Just try to distance yourself a little, alright, babe? Now hand me that sake and stop being such a pig.”

“ _You’re the pig_.” 

  
+  
  


But she ended up taking Ino’s advice. She stopped the sessions a few weeks before finals and advised him to take the free time to study up. Sakura tried not to let her gaze wander to Kakashi during class, but sometimes she caught herself, fixated and fond. Truthfully, she didn’t know how she had fallen for him so fast.

No, she did. Sakura had a history of making stupid decisions about love. And she always fell fast.

She borrowed Hinata’s TA to grade the exams and send out the grades. Only an email from Kakashi with a smiley face told her he had passed the class. Sakura congratulated him and closed her email. She didn’t seek him out later, trying in vain to forget those sleepy eyes and that tired slouch. 

It was long months before she saw him again.

Sakura had tugged on a new pair of gloves and entered the room. “And what do we have here — “

She glanced at the name on the paper. And the man in bed. 

“Yo, Sakura.”

She laughed. “Alright, Kakashi..”

“Broken nose,” he answered her earlier question.

She greedily drank in the sight of him. Sakura had often looked back and wondered if he had liked her too. If he had struggled or watched her too long. Something about the way his gaze held hers right then told her he did. 

“I’ll assign you a different doctor,” said Sakura after making sure he wasn’t secretly bleeding out. Kakashi seemed like the type to talk down a problem.

“Hm, why?”

She grinned at him teasingly. “I’m not planning on pulling down your mask in a professional setting.”

“What about dinner?” Kakashi asked. 

“You can pick me up at five. _Don’t_ be late.”

  
+  
  
  


A few weeks later, Sakura woke at the warmth of the sunlight scattered on her bare back and the warmth of Kakashi’s hand settled on her hip. She wiggled and turned around to face Kakashi instead. It was rare that she woke up before he did. 

He blinked awake a few minutes after she did. 

“Good morning,” she whispered, kissing his shoulder. 

Kakashi kissed her. She still thought he was lazy, but she didn’t mind the lazy swipes of his tongue or the way his teeth gently pulled at her lips. “Mmm, I don’t have time,” she complained when his hands slid down from her waist. 

“What’s time anyway?”

“Shut up,” she giggled. 

“When do you have to leave, Sakura- _sensei_?” Kakashi kissed her again, sweet and slow.

“Well… ” She tapped her phone to check the time since he didn’t have a working alarm clock (no wonder he was always running late). “I have a _little_ time.”

He smiled, and she kissed him again.

**Author's Note:**

> hello, this is a gift for mouse for the sakura!!! i hope you enjoy!! <3
> 
> i definitely didn't read this again so pls forgive any consistencies. i wanted to try and throw my understanding of how i usually write kakasaku and reverse their roles and have sakura as the 'mentor'! in some ways, it was the same because it includes both of them trying to navigate their roles and the power disparity between them. and in a lot of ways, it was different and it was definitely v challenging to try and write them in a situation where they aren't in the naruto-verse and don't share a history or fall in the same roles. really fun to try it though!
> 
> there's a lot i don't fully develop like what happened to sakura or kakashi, but i hope some of it is implied in their conversations. thank you for reading and pls leave a kudo or comment if you enjoy <3


End file.
